Beaded article of jewelry



Dec. ll, 1928. r

. F. DPPENSCHMITT I BEADED ARTICLE OF JEWELRY Filed Dec. 4,' 1923 Patented Dec. 11, 1928.

EnInDnIcH nrrnNscHMrrr, on rronznnm, GERMANY.

BEADED ABTICLE OF JEWELRY.

Application filed December 4, 1923, Serial No. 678, 181, and -in Germany January 22, 1923.

This invention relates to beaded articles of jewelry, such as hracelets 'and the like, 'and particularly to an article of je-Welry in which the heads forming the surface Component of the article are mounted upona form defining and maintaining flexihle or more or less resilient core.

Beaded articles of jewelry are much in Vogue and are sold in large quantities in va- 1'0 rious sections of the globe. Their popularity is due to the fact that articles of from good to very fine appearance may be made to sell at moderate prices, and are capahle, owing to the many changes of design .or pattern possible hy the use of different kinds of heads of various metals or other materials, or comhinations of them, of being produced in many attractive styles to suit the caprice or fancy of the users within popular price limits. Because, also, such jewelry may he quickly modified to conforn to changing style demands,

without additional overhead costs or the use of different machinery, the manufacturer is enabled to put out many different styles and to constantly make and sell his goods at a comparatively low cost for any given grade of article notwithstanding frequent style changes, with resultant advantage to the retail trade and users 'of this class of jewelry.

Beaded jewelry as heretofore manufactured, however, herent defects. If the article, for example, is composed of heads strung upon a core composed of an elastic cord or tape, stretching of the tape, which very quickly occurs, causes deforrnation of the article and gapping of the. heads, producing exposure of the unsightly cord or tape. The rubher content of the cord or tape also quickly rots, especially 40 under' certain climatic conditions, destroying the integrity of the article. In order to overcome this objecton link chain cores or flat spring cores have been used, but chain cores are not form sustaining and therefore can not he used in the construction of some articles of jewelry, and spring cores are subjectto breakage from flexing actions, with the result, as in the case of elastic cores, of 'the possible loss of heads in addition to the destruction of an important element rendering the article unserviceable. In the case of slender chain cores stretching* and breakage are also liable to occur with the ohjections stated. Spring cores for economical reasons are necessarily made of spring steel and in Southern climates are afiz'ected by atmoshas been subject to certain in-` u pheric moisture and rust, thus both increasng their liability to breakage and the" unsightliness of the article in the event of gapping of the heads and exposure of the rusted core.

One object of my invention is to provide a Construction of beaded article 'of jewelry which overcomes all of these ohjections to prior constructions, and which, in addition to furnishing an article of greatly increased strength and durahility, also ensures against any unsightly appearance of any part de tracting from the appearance ofthe article in the event of gapping of the heads; and a further object of myinvention is to provide a beaded article of jewelry employing a steel spring' core in conjunction with a t-ubular combined sheath for the core and support for the heads, wherehy .the loss of heads or other p'arts in the event of hreakage of the core is prevented and whereby the core 'is protected from rust and its liahility of hreakage reduced so that its period of usefulness is materially prolonged.

In the accompanying my invention,-- V

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation f an article of jewelry emhodying the invenon. i Figure 2 is a plan View of the same.

Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a side elevation and an end elevation of one of the heads.

Figures 5 and 6 are a side elevation and a plan View showinga modified form of the invention.

drawing illustrating Figures .7 and 8 are side and end elevations,

respectively, of one of the heads shown in Figures 5 and 6.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 to 4inclusive, of the drawing, 1 designates the heads of the hracelet or other article, which are mounted upon a tubular member 2 receiving and enclosing a core 3. The core 3 is composed of a transversely flat strip or hand of spring steel, of watch spring type. The tubular member 3 is of a cross-section conforming to that of the band and is adapted to more or less snugly emhrace the same from end to end thereof. The heads 1 are provided with suitahly shaped slots or openings through which the core 3 and member 2 pass, and whereby the heads are strung directly upon the member 2. The heads in practice may be made of gold, silver,- or other metals or materials, which may he enameled or suitably coloredor ornamented' in any de- Sired way to provide an article of the desired design and degree of ornamentality. The member 2 is composed of Milanese wire fabric, of quite closemesh. This fabric is conmonly formed of wire spirals intermeshed or twisted into one another seas toprovide a sheet of material, which, in the construction of the member 2, is cut to size and its longitudinal edges brought into abutment and soldercd or otherwise joined to produce a fiattened tube. Either solid gold or-silver wire may be used, or other wire plated with these metals, silver wire being that most commonly employed.

The core 3 is suitably bent or shaped to give the desired form to the bracelet or other article, which it maintains by its resiliency, while permitting the article to be applied to I the wrist or neck of the wearer and to conform to the contour thereof. The mesh wire tube 2 is universally flexible and of form sustaining character and forms a' stable support for the beads land a sheath or covering for the core 3. Owing to its degree of fiexibility and self-sustaining character, the tube 3 allows the beads and core to have an amplc degree of flexion, butat the same' time prevents undue fiexion of the core 3 and also any sharp bending movements thereof. Thus the core is reinforced by the tube 2 to reduce its liabilty of breakage, to which it'is subject in articles of this character, whereby its life period or period of usefulness is prolonged. If, however, breakage of the spring core should occur, the member 2 will hold the sepa` rated portions thereof confined andin proper relative position and prevent their loss, so

p that notwithstanding its breakage, the spring will still serve to, perform its intended function.

The member 2 is of sufiicintly close mesh to prevent the entrance of perspiration to the core and to' largely protect the core from the effects of atmospheric moisture. Rusting of the spring core from the action of moisture Will thus be prevented or deterred, a feature of importance in the use of articles of jewelry of this character in hot and moist climates. As the outer surface' of the member 2 is normally largely coveredand concealed by the beads, it is not necessary to subject its surface to expensive finishing Operations' such as would be required if such member formed the surface member of the article. When formed of gold or silver wire or wire plated with these metals, however, the surface finish of the member 2 will be sufliciently fine to give it a good appearance at points between the beads where it is exposed. The surface of the member 2 will, therefore, provide a Supplemental surface of complemental character to the surface finish of the beads, whatever it may be, so that in the event of any gapping of the beads, due to unavoidable stretching'of the core and member 2, the portions of the member 2 exposed through thegaps will give a finished appearance, i. e., will not 'detract from the appearance of the article. Because of the fact that the heads' are firmly supported by a self-sustaining wire mesh tube, which' sheaths and protects the spring core from moisture and liability of breakage but 'which, in the event of breakage of the core, will hold the parts thereof retained and in proper relation, a construction of article is provided which is very strong and of greater lasting qualities than beaded articles of jew- -elry of the constructions heretofore employed. As the member 2 is practically proof against breakage even under rough usage loss of beads from breakage of its support can not under any' ordinary conditions occur, since the spring core may be fractured without loss of parts affecting the integrity of the support for the beads and, in fact,^without loss of any of the parts of the article. It will thus be seen that by the use of a tubular mesh wire 'support for the heads and sheath for the spring core an article ofsuperior strength and wearing qualities is produced.

In Figures 5 to 8, inclusive, a modified construction is disclosed in which the spring metal core 3 is dispensed with and heads 4 are strung upon a Milanese fabric band 5 which 'may be of either solid structure, i. e., composed of a fiat strip, or of tubular structure. In this case the member 5 provides a flexible support for the beads which is form:

sustaining and to-'a certain extent resilient. The member 2 in this instance will provide a fleXible support for the beads which is strong and durable and, in the event of its stretching, and causing the beads to gap, will, at points eXposed, presenta surface of sufliciently fine appearance, complementary to that of the beads, to maintain and prevent any detraction from the ornamental appearance of the article.

Having thus described my invention, I claim A form-sustaining resilient beaded article of jewelry comprising a spring steel core, a tubular covering of fieXible, close-mesh wire fabric enveloping the core, and a string of beads surrounding the covering from end to end thereof in abutting contactwith each other, said covering presenting a Supplemen- ,tal display'surface of complementar character with respect to the display sur aces of the beads for -maintaining a generally uniform 'appearance of the articlein the event of the gapping of the beads and the exposure of the covering therethrough.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRIEDRICH DPPENSCHMITT. 

